Calix (ASX:CXL) says Project LEILAC based at Heidelberg Cement’s operations in Lixhe, Belgium, is a European Union Horizon 2020 (H2020) research and innovation project.
The €21m project (approx. A$33m) has received €12m (approx. A$19m) of funding from the Horizon research and innovation program.
Under the program, LEILAC is piloting Calix’s “breakthrough carbon capture technology”, called Direct Separation, that would enable both Europe’s cement and lime industries to reduce their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions dramatically without significant energy or capital penalty.
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Calix says the current phase of the project represents a considerable milestone, after already successfully achieving:
- Initial Project Consortium formation in July 2014
- Initial H2020 grant submission in January 2015
- Advancement to second round H2020 grant application in September 2015
- €12m in EU Horizon 2020 grant funding in January 2016
- Basis of Design review in October 2016
- Front-End Engineering and Design review and Final Investment Decision by the consortium in August 2017
- Commencement of construction in February 2018.
Calix’s founder, chief scientist and executive director, Dr Mark Sceats, said: “This is a significant development milestone for the Direct Separation application of Calix’s technology. It has taken nearly five years of considerable effort and focus to reach this achievement.
“It is all the more satisfying given Calix, an Australian business, has initiated this project, attracted technical and industrial multinational giants in Europe to form a project consortium, and has led the project successfully since inception. I look forward to a successful commissioning and fingerprinting exercise over the next few months – which will considerably de-risk this application.”
Calix’s patent covering Direct Separation for lime and cement was filed in November 2014, and has been granted in Australia and China with a number of other countries pending approval.
